McCullum, Williamson tons put Kiwis on top

Kane Williamson and Brendon McCullum rescued New Zealand from a shaky start with strokeful centuries on the opening day of the first Test against India at Auckland.

New Zealand ended the day at a healthy 329/4 with McCullum still unbeaten on 143. Corey Anderson was keeping him company on 42.

Williamson and McCullum were involved in a double century stand for the fourth wicket after coming together at 30/3.

Both were in a punishing mood as the Indians wilted after a promising beginning.

Williamson finally fell in the last session, caught behind by MS Dhoni off Zaheer Khan for 113, as he tried to flick a delivery down the leg side. The partnership with McCullum was worth 221.

If India thought they were in for some respite after his departure, they were wrong. Corey Anderson was the next man in and was his usual belligerent self.

Anderson and McCullum have put on an unbroken 78 so far. The final session of the day produced 150 runs in 39 overs, with play being extended to make up for a delay due to bad weather at the start of the day.

New Zealand went into tea at 179/3 with the post-lunch session producing 125 runs without the loss of a wicket.

Williamson was dropped on 32 by Murali Vijay at first slip off the luckless Mohammad Shami, a miss that proved costly for the vistors.

Earlier in the day, the Indian seamers had made swift inroads in the opening session.

The hosts had gone into lunch on 54/3 with Williamson on 22 and skipper McCullum on five.

The much maligned Ishant Sharma struck in his very first over to remove Hamish Rutherford and leave the Kiwis at 19/1.

Rutherford was snapped up by a diving Ajinkya Rahane at gully for 6.

Zaheer Khan then trapped the other opener Peter Fulton leg before for 13 as the Kiwis slumped to 23/2.

Fulton had led a charmed life, being dropped by Shikhar Dhawan off Zaheer Khan in the slips and then surviving a plumb lbw shout by Shami.

Ishant struck again to send back New Zealand's top batsman Ross Taylor for just 3.

Taylor drove Ishant straight into the hands of Ravindra Jadeja at mid-off to reduce the hosts to 30/3.

​MS Dhoni's luck with the toss continued as he won his sixth successive duel with the coin and chose to field first.

India went in with a four pronged attack with Jadeja being the lone spinner.